History Main / EccentricMillionaire

* Richard Garriott amassed a fortune developing the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series of games. He goes out in public dressed as his "Lord British" persona from the the games, built "Britannia Manor", a medieval themed home -- named after his character's castle in ''Ultima'' -- filled with secret passageways and rooms and decorated with a collection of eccentric items. He also became a space tourist[[note]]fulfilling a childhood dream of following the footsteps of a his father, astronaut Owen Garriott, into the space, which had been stymied by eyesight issues[[/note]] and took the opportunity to create ''Apogee of Fear'', the first narrative movie filmed in space.

Compare with UnclePennybags, which is equally nice but not that of an overspender. Compare/contrast UpperClassTwit, RichBitch, SpoiledBrat, and GentlemanSnarker. May be a {{Socialite}}, a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob, as well as RichInDollarsPoorInSense. On the other hand, they may be a BunnyEarsLawyer who's genuinely competent at what they do despite their quirks. They could be based on real-life tycoons, turning them either into the {{Trumplica}}, MrAltDisney or the HowardHughesHomage.

* Bruce Wayne, who, as a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob, has a public image as above, but his real eccentricity is that he is the superhero, Franchise/{{Batman}}.

* John Beresford Tipton, the mysterious ''[[Series/TheMillionaire millionaire]]'' from the series of the same name. Even though he doesn't actually appear on screen, he acts as a trickster by throwing a disruptive catalyst (i.e., a check for a million dollars) into people's lives.

* Jason Kingsley, founder and CEO of the video game development company Rebellion, made a fortune from said company and has, quite charmingly, plowed said fortune into indulging his passion for medieval history. He owns and trains horses, including destriers, and explores facets of daily medieval life for everyone from kings to peasants. Why is this charming, you ask? Well, because he's made a Website/YouTube channel about it, [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjlDOf0UO9wSijFqPE9wBw Modern History TV]], to share his knowledge with the masses -- and because he is one of the most unpretentious [=YouTube=] hosts out there.
* Sarah Winchester inherited a vast amount of wealth (over $20 million then, equivalent to over $500 million today) from her late husband, all of it derived from the sale of firearms. After her husband and infant daughter died of nasty diseases, the superstitious Sarah consulted a medium, who claimed to be channeling her husband and told her to go West and continuously build a house for herself... and the hostile spirits of everyone killed by Winchester rifles. And so she did. Her California mansion is now known as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mystery_House Winchester Mystery House]], and you can go there and take a tour.

* John Beresford Tipton, the mysterious ''Series/{{Millionaire}}'' from the series of the same name. Even though he doesn't actually appear on screen, he acts as a trickster by throwing a disruptive catalyst (i.e., a check for a million dollars) into people's lives.

* To a certain degree, [[LargeHam Gary Oak]] from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''. He is fairly rich, due to Professor Oak's research, and would easily qualify seeing as he not only spends all of his money buying cruise tickets, a week at the spa, a sports car most people would dream about and [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders his faithful busty cheerleaders]]. He's ten, for Christ's sake.

* In the 2007-09 series ''Series/{{Life}}'', [=Detective Charlie Crews=] definitely fits the bill. (If you were in the LAPD and they railroaded you for a murder you didn't commit, then you were exonerated years later and received a multi-million dollar settlement from the LAPD for your false imprisonment, would you really go back to work for the LAPD?) Somewhat downplayed in that most of his quirks are clearly derived from his imprisonment, rather than his wealth.

* ''Film/TheUnbearableWeightOfMassiveTalent'' has Javier Gutierrez, the billionaire owner of a Spanish olive grove [[spoiler:and decoy leader of a drug cartel]]. He spends a large portion of his wealth on movie memorabilia, and goes to extreme lengths to write Creator/NicolasCage's next blockbuster (such as inviting Cage to his birthday party), despite having no professional screenwriting experience.

* Chairman Kaga in ''Series/IronChef'' and his nephew [[FanNickname Chairman Mark]] in ''Iron Chef America''. The former is on record as stating he spent ¥843,354,407 just on ingredients for Kitchen Stadium (roughly $8 million at the time), while the latter has ''several'' Kitchen Stadiums built (including one [[RecycledInSpace In Space]]). Let's remember, this is to host ''{{Cooking Duel}}s''. If that ain't eccentric...

%* Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, has showed signs of this since the late 2010s.

* Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, has showed signs of this since the late 2010s.

* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In "Adopted", the Baby Bears are briefly taken in by Charles Worthington, a childish man who likes to think of himself as "the fun kind of millionaire". He has a very bizarre taste in fashion (wearing worn old sneakers with a purple pin-stripe suit), lives in a mansion littered with toys, and keeps a gorilla as a pet.

--> '''Minnesota Cuke''': He's Loopy!
--> '''Bob''': No, he's Eccentric.

'''Bob''' He's rich. Eccentric is Loopy with money.
* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In "Adopted", the Baby Bears are briefly taken in by Charles Worthington, a childish man who likes to think of himself as the "fun" kind of millionaire.

* In the 2007-09 series ''Series/{{Life}}'', [=Detective Charlie Crews=] definitely fits the bill. (If you were in the LAPD and they railroaded you for a murder you didn't commit, then you were exonerated years later and received a multi-million dollar settlement from the LAPD for your false imprisonment, would you really go back to work for the LAPD?)

* In ''VideoGame/CriminalCase'', Archibald Ashworth from Maple Heights is a weird old patriarch who loves his bees more than anything else. When told that his grandson had been brutally murdered, Archibald's reaction was very nonchalant, and even glad that there's less of his greedy relatives trying to fight over his riches; but when one of his bees died, he went completely berserk.

* ''Webcmic/GFSerendipity'': [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed with Stan]]. He has a bathtub installed inside his office but otherwise the story doesn't show how he spends his money.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''FanFic/GFSerendipity'': [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed with Stan]]. He has a bathtub installed inside his office but otherwise the story doesn't show how he spends his money.
[[/folder]]

He also might just be an excuse for the main characters to be able to spend their time doing something besides earning money, since this guy is keeping them fed. When the writers of a comedy aren't in the mood to come up with a unique premise, he may also have set up a bet/challenge/[[SillyWill goofy will]]/whatever for a huge amount of cash; {{hilarity ensues}} of course. Bonus points if someone drops the stock phrase, "You can't be crazy if you're rich, being rich means you're just eccentric."

The rich guy who believes in having fun with his cash, buying rich parties, helicopters, trips to the Titanic, whatever. This guy is definitely more fun than the standard [[TheScrooge tightwad]] image that accompanies most millionaires.

* Lory Takarada, from ''Manga/SkipBeat'', seems to believe that you couldn't enter in ''any'' building without a parade imported from the Rio de Janeiro's Carnival and dressing like the lovechild of [[Series/IronChef Charirman Kaga]] and Walter Mercado. Pray he doesn't hear that you're planning a party, because he'll bring you the same design team who decorated Willy Wonka's factory. Well, he is the president of a big talent agency, so his eccentricities can be ''sightly'' handwaved, but still...

** Not to mention, spending your fortune on travelling across the world searching for pets (in a nutshell) is ...pretty wacko in itself.

* Bruce Wayne, who, as a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob, has a public image as above, but his real eccentricity is that he is the superhero, Franchise/{{Batman}}

* Creator/HowardHughes was considered this back in the day, with his plane design "[[InsistentTerminology Hercules]]" (known to others as "the Spruce Goose") being a major obsession. In hindsight, though, he had [[SanitySlippage debilitating mental illness]].

He also might just be an excuse for the main characters to be able to spend their time doing something besides earning money, since this guy is keeping them fed. When the writers of a comedy aren't in the mood to come up with a unique premise, he may also have set up a bet/challenge/[[SillyWill goofy will]]/whatever for a huge amount of cash; {{hilarity ensues}} of course. Bonus points if someone drops the stock phrase, "You can't be crazy if you're rich, if you're rich then you're just eccentric."

* Lory Takarada, from ''Manga/SkipBeat'', seems to believe that you couldn't enter in ''any'' building without a parade imported from the Rio de Janeiro's Carnival and dressing like the lovechild of [[Series/IronChef Charirman Kaga]] and Walter Mercado. And pray he doesn't hear that you're planning a party, because he'll bring you the same design team who decorated Willy Wonka's factory. Well, he is the president of a big talent agency, so his eccentricities can be ''sightly'' handwaved, but still...

** Not to mention, spending your fortune on travelling across the world searching for pets (in a nutshell) is... Pretty wacko in itself.
* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub''...the Club itself, but hell, the entire freaking Ouran Academy. When Haruhi says "Rich Bastards" she isn't kidding!

* Mr Toad in ''Literature/TheWindInTheWillows'' could be a deconstruction on this trope; he enjoys blowing his inherited money on whatever he thinks is most enjoyable, from a caravan, to a motor car, but got in trouble when his obessive with motor cars went too far. And he risks losing his fortune on his obsessives when he could have used it responsibly to help him live his entire life comfortably.

* Chairman Kaga in ''Series/IronChef'' and his nephew [[FanNickname Chairman Mark]] in ''Iron Chef America''. The former is on record as stating he spent ¥843,354,407 just on ingredients for Kitchen Stadium (roughly $8 million at the time), while the latter has ''several'' Kitchen Stadiums built (including one [[RecycledInSpace In Space]]). And let's remember, this is to host ''{{Cooking Duel}}s''. If that ain't eccentric...

Proverbially, "someone can't be crazy if they're rich, then they're just eccentric". This trope describes just such a rich guy, someone who believes in having fun with his cash, buying rich parties, helicopters, trips to the Titanic, whatever. This guy is definitely more fun than the standard [[TheScrooge tightwad]] image that accompanies most millionaires.

He also might just be an excuse for the main characters to be able to spend their time doing something besides earning money, since this guy is keeping them fed. When the writers of a comedy aren't in the mood to come up with a unique premise, he may also have set up a bet/challenge/[[SillyWill goofy will]]/whatever for a huge amount of cash; {{hilarity ensues}} of course.

Proverbially, someone can't be crazy if they're rich, then they're just eccentric. This trope describes just such a rich guy, someone who believes in having fun with his cash, buying rich parties, helicopters, trips to the Titanic, whatever. This guy is definitely more fun than the standard [[TheScrooge tightwad]] image that accompanies most millionaires.